"He had that quality to make you feel better about yourself, to make you smile." — Marshall Thomas

SAGINAW, MI — When the the winningest coach in Mid-American Conference men's basketball coaching history died Friday, it was felt around the country.

It was felt in Oxford, Ohio, where Charlie Coles served 16 years as the coach for the Miami men's basketball team. It was felt in Mount Pleasant, where he coached the Chippewas for six seasons, teaming with star Dan Majerle to bring a MAC title to Central Michigan University.

It was felt in Detroit, in Kentucky and in Toledo.

And it was felt on the front nine of a golf course in Freeland, where former Saginaw High coach and athletic director Marshall Thomas was helping former Trojans Draymond Green and LaMarr Woodley raise money for the Saginaw Public Schools athletic department.

Charlie Coles, who coached boys basketball at Saginaw High from 1972 through 1982, died Friday. He was 71.

"I almost quit, almost walked off the course because I didn't think I could go on," Thomas said. "But Coach Coles would have kept me on the course, so I kept playing."

Thomas was Coles' assistant coach during his 10 years with Saginaw High. Coles didn't win a state title, reaching the finals twice but never quite taking that last step.

But while it mattered to those focused on basketball, it was not one of Coles' biggest goals. Coles' biggest challenge in 1972 was to heal a Saginaw community that faced a racial crisis.

He knew he was hired to replace Ken Gray, not because of anything Ken Gray had done wrong but because of what Ken Gray was. Gray was white. In 1972, Saginaw High had become predominantly black, with most of the white students in Saginaw going to Arthur Hill.

In 1972, Saginaw High needed a black coach. Coles understood that, and he embraced the challenge. And he embraced Saginaw.

"It was a point in time when a group of us were all here at the same time in our lives, all working together to where we became very close," Thomas said. "That never left Coach Coles. Even when we got together three or four weeks ago, we talked until 3 in the morning ... and I'm usually in bed by 9 or 9:30 at night.

"It wasn't a case of it being just 10 years here. It was what those 10 years meant and what we did with those 10 years. Saginaw became his home. It became where he was most comfortable."

Coles moved on to become an assistant coach at the University of Detroit, then to a head coaching job at CMU, where he had his first heart attack.

He returned to Ohio to become a high school coach, then joined Herb Sendek's staff at his alma mater, Miami of Ohio, before becoming the head coach, a job he held for 16 years before retiring in 2012.

Coles endured continual heart trouble, collapsing on the court during one game. He had double bypass surgery and a pacemaker inserted.

Still, Coles became one of the most popular coaches in the Mid-American Conference and the country. He not only coached, he entertained with a lifetime of stories and philosophies, both of which he was more than willing to share with anyone willing to listen.

Some of his post-game press conferences have become must-see YouTube videos.

"The best word I would use to describe Coach Coles was effervescent," Thomas said. "He had that quality to make you feel better about yourself, to make you smile."

Saginaw High finally won that elusive state title, with Thomas coaching the team in 1996. Then the Trojans won again, under Lou Dawkins, and then again, under Julian Taylor.

"It didn't bother Coach Coles that he didn't win a state title, because he felt a part of the state titles we did win," Thomas said. "He was happy for us that we won, but he was also satisfied a little because he felt he was a part of it ... and he was.

"Coach Coles set the tone for Saginaw High basketball. He's a part of our success, even if he wasn't here."

Coles was a great defensive coach, which makes sense because he made his decision to become a coach while attending a college coaching class at Miami. The teacher was a defensive-minded Miami football coach named Bo Schembechler.

That defense remains a staple of the Saginaw High program, a distinction handed down from Coles to Thomas to Dawkins to Taylor.

Coles, however, felt a part of another state title. His son, Chris Coles, made perhaps the biggest shot in Michigan high school tournament history when his three-quarter court shot at the buzzer beat Flint Beecher, 33-32, to give Buena Vista the 1986 Class B state title.

Watching his son's state title bonded Coles to Saginaw even closer.

He spent one season as the general manager of the Mid-Michigan Great Lakers, a Saginaw-based pro team in the Global Basketball Association. But in his heart, he was a coach, not a general manager. He didn't enjoy it, but he did it because it was in Saginaw.

And Saginaw, Coles often remarked, was his hometown. It wasn't where he was born. It wasn't where he spent most of his life. It wasn't even where he had his most success or achieved most of his fame.

But it was where his heart was, and it was where hearts were breaking Friday when a 71-year-old black man with a twinkle in his green eyes stopped telling stories.